Posted on May 23, 2017 by Animal Capture

At first blush, mice and rats seem like very similar animals. They’re both small, furry rodents. They both infest homes, scurry around in the walls, and try to get at what’s in the pantry. While they share a number of common traits, they are also very different animals and will affect your home in different ways. Infestations of mice or rats will each have their own unique, best strategy for ridding your home of them.

The easiest way to tell mice and rats apart is by their size. The average rat is over twice as long and many times heavier than the average mouse. Of course, this is not always the most reliable way, as a juvenile rat may appear to be roughly the same size as an adult mouse. A mouse will also have a much longer tail, relative to its body, than a rat. Mice also have larger ears and more prominent eyes, whereas rats will have smaller ears and tiny eyes.

While they’re different animals, the removal of mice and rats is equally important, due to the damage that both species cause to your home. They both gnaw on objects for their teeth, get into your food, and spread disease and leave droppings behind, making them unwanted guests.

Mice are skilled climbers and, due to their small size, typically get into your walls and use them as routes to nests up in the attic or elsewhere. Rats tend to stay lower and can usually be found living in your basement or crawlspaces.